Thank you for posting these results. I went to the Phoenix Nissan Leaf Town Hall meeting a couple weeks ago and was surprised by how many people were upset with their range/capacity. So, I decided to do a range test of my own. I normally drive 17 miles a day and plug in on a 120v at work to 80% capacity. Very rarely do I use a 240v or charge to 100%. The last couple times when I charged to 100% I noticed I had one extra bar extend past the total range bar, like so:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200264766481139&l=43af72d9dd
I never noticed that I lost a bar, so I assumed it showed 13 out of 12 bars. After I took the picture and counted I realize it's 12 out of 11 bars. Representatives from Nissan said the bars were too pessimistic. 12 out of 11 bars seems a bit overly optimistic to me. When I first got my car, the most I drove without charging was 80 miles with 10 miles left on the indicator and 1 bar remaining (estimated 90 miles range). This was going a route to work that has a speed limit ranging between 30 mph & 45 mph (mostly 30 mph). I took this same route last week and I’m disappointed by the results:
Test Begin Date: 01/10/2013
Test End Date: 01/14/2013
Leaf Year: 2011
Milage at start of test: 11099
Milage at end of test: 11175
Average Economy before test: 4.8 miles/kWh
Average Economy after test: 5 miles/kWh
Max Speed durring test: 45 mph
Average Speed durring test (approximate):37 mph
AC: Off
ECO Mode: On
Bars | Miles Driven | Miles Remaining (as displayed on the dashboard)
12 | 0 | 95
11 | 8.6 | 83
7 | 26.2 | 55
5 | 41 | 39
2 | 55.7 | 19
1 | 60.5 | 11
1 | 71.5 | 5
0 | 75.3 | 4
0 | 75.7 | ---
I doubt I'll be keeping the Leaf after my lease is up, unless a replacement battery isn’t too costly (we’ll find out the battery cost this spring apparently). I'm going to do another range test in the summer and one right before my lease is up. Any suggestions on what other data I need to collect or what other EVs you recommend? I want to stick with an EV if I turn this one in at the end of my lease. I need at least a 50 mile range. At the rate my Leaf is going, by 2016 I'll expect to be able to get at most a 47 mile range, unless my math is off.
I hope Nissan improves their battery cooling methods.
Thanks,
Eddie D.